Friday, February 05, 2010

ABC Family Makes Schedule Changes, 8 Simple Rules Now Weekdays; John Ritter Book Coming in September Written by Amy Yasbeck

ABC Family has made some last minute schedule changes to start this coming Monday (Feb. 8, 2010). The changes happening to the weekday schedule will have one show return to weekdays, one show leaving weekdays, one show leaving totally for now, and one show expanding. Wow! First up, we get another hour of Full House weekdays in the 12pm hour, replacing What I Like About You. But not to worry fans of What I Like About You, ABC Family likes you fans and will move the show to the better weekday 4pm hour replacing Grounded for Life, which is now totally off the schedule for now. Then in the 6pm hour, 8 Simple Rules returns to weekdays replacing an hour of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which will remain airing late nights on some weekends. That's not a big deal since the series already airs on TBS and Disney XD anyway. Good news for 8 Simple Rules, as that series will get to air weekdays again instead of weekend mornings. The final weekday change is an expansion. Whose Line Is It Anyway will now air five days a week in the 12 midnight hour (rather than just once a week) replacing various original series encores and other series.
There will be changes to weekends, too. Starting Saturday, Feb. 13 on Saturdays from 7am-10am will now be That '70s Show replacing two hours of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and an hour of Full House. 8 Simple Rules will remain in the 10am hour on Saturday, Feb. 13, but starting Saturday, Feb. 20, That '70s Show takes this hour as well, expanding to 7am-11am on most Saturdays depending on movie start times. Movies take over the mornings now on most Sundays, but there could be a That '70s Show sighting on Sundays in the 7am hour leading into movies. That '70s Show airs weeknights in the 7pm hour, but most of the time it is preempted due to originals, movies, or various programming, so the weekend morning airings are better. It will continue to air on TeenNick every night as well.

We mentioned a while back that Amy Yasbeck (actress and the widow of John Ritter) is working on a book on the life of her late husband, but now we have more details! With Love and Laughter, John Ritter will be published by Simon & Schuster in September, on the seventh anniversary of Ritter's death from an undiagnosed aortic dissection. I still cannot believe it will be 7 years already next September. That was a horrific day.
"It's about John's take on everything, and what it was like to live with him," says Yasbeck, who met Ritter shooting Problem Child in 1989. "People have seen him as the celebrity, but this will be about the friend, the dad and the husband."
Shortly after his death in 2003, Yasbeck started the John Ritter Foundation to promote awareness about aortic aneurysm and dissection (Johnritterfoundation.org).
Amy continues to raise awareness of aortic dissection, as she recently spoke to ABC13 (KTRK) in Houston on this issue. She is doing a great job and is working with Dr. Milewicz and her UT-Houston team to find the genes that lead to Ritter's death. In these freezers are samples from 10,000 people which have helped them isolate four of the genes that are related to aortic aneurysm. Amy is certainly making a difference in the world by doing this. She will save many lives and needs to be honored for her fine work. The name John Ritter continues to spread a positive message, just as it did when he was alive.
View the video of ABC13's story. Everyone should take a look at this.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Saturday, April 26

Animal Control - "Giraffes, Gorillas and Penguins" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The crew must contain a freak zoo break; Frank realizes that he needs to break up with Yasmin; Emily finds an unexpected benefactor in a celebrity businesswoman.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 21)

Friday, April 25

  • Kathy Bates (Disjointed) - Watch Kathy on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Tracee Ellis Ross (black-ish/Girlfriends) - Tracee appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Greta Titelman (Fantasmas/Search Party/Los Espookys) - Paul and Greta are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Yvonne Orji (Insecure) - Tamron Hall has a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE with Yvonne who is now hosting Pop The Balloon Live on Netflix, so check your local listings.
  • Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G./The Carmichael Show) - Tiffany co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Drew and Valerie are joined by Carla Hall in the kitchen to whip up some delicious cozy food on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Amy Schumer (Life & Beth), Jillian Bell (Bless the Harts/Idiotsitter/Eastbound & Down/Workaholics) and Brianne Howey (Dollface) - The cast of the new movie Kinda Pregnant join Drew to dish on their new film on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill) - Joel talks about Bravo's Love Hotel on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two

11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


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